4 Custom Kitchens Made of Surprising Materials

Find inspiration in these modern alternative kitchen materials

Kitchen designers and architects constantly push the boundaries of what’s possible. It starts with design, functionality, but often, designers start their process by considering the materials they will use. With a huge global shift towards more sustainable processes and using materials that don’t harm the environment – designers are getting creative. See below what some designers have chosen as their surprising materials of choice in the kitchen.

Reclaimed Industrial Wood and Recycled Plastic Bottles

Sustainability is more than just a buzzword. It’s a complete new shift in the way companies produce their products. IKEA have taken their eco credentials to soaring new levels by creating a line of kitchen cabinets that are literally made of garbage. The Kungsbacka range of cabinets is made almost completely from reclaimed industrial wood and recycled plastic bottles. The cabinets are a result of a collaboration with Swedish design studio Form Us With Love, boasting a sleek matte finish and a 45-degree sloping edge. The result? Anything but trashy.

Reclaimed Brick and Pine Plywood

Architects and kitchen designers constantly find new ways of making surprising materials work in modern kitchens. Salvaged materials and affordable timber options are great choices when designing a sustainable kitchen. This particular space in Ireland is lined with reclaimed bricks along one of the walls, facing the countertop and appliances on the opposite side. The kitchen features a row of cabinets made from stainless steel below, and Chilean pine plywood above. Along with the industrial kitchen-style brick walls and wooden fittings, the architects chose to use a simple palette of white walls and concrete floors. It’s an unassuming mix of materials with huge impact.

Glass

Some design processes are more transparent than others. In the case of The Infinity Kitchen by Dutch architects MVRDV, that’s literally the case. Their impressive project is a completely transparent kitchen module, made entirely of glass. The idea behind this surprising design is to highlight the process and procedure of cooking, and to make food the hero of the cooking process. The Infinity Kitchen helps show people exactly what is in their fridge, how food is discarded – and essentially forces the owner to be more responsible and aware of his ecological footprint. It’s an interesting thought – exposing the potentially harmful secrets that everyday kitchens hold.

Anodised Aluminium

While stainless steel is a common kitchen material, aluminium is certainly lesser known. Martin Steininger’s SLIM kitchen follows the Austrian designer’s trend of using surprising materials in his kitchen designs. The unit block and cupboard element come fully clad in 3mm thick anodised aluminium. His goal was to produce a kitchen that’s more robust and long-lasting than anything else on the market. It’s a big task, as the aluminium parts are difficult to form and need to be processed with engineering precision.